Page:History of the French in India.djvu/436

 410 THE FALL OF DUPLEIX. chap, all the French operations against Trichinapalli ! This IX ' J enterprise, well planned, up to a certain point well exe- 1703. cuted, certain then under the conditions of ordinary prudence to succeed — why did it fail ] What was it that prompted that ill-timed and useless volley The second query is an answer to the first ; to the second itself it is beyond our power to reply. We must content ourselves with remarking that that foolish act of a few foolish men changed entirely the face of events. It not only by its consequences took away from the French the hope of ever gaining Trichinapalli;* it not only gave all the triumphs of the campaign to the English, but it was the main cause of that humiliating treaty, in which, but a few months later, France gave up the labour of years, renounced the right even to aspire to dominion in the territories of Southern India. What a lesson does not this story convey to soldiers — what a lesson to mankind in general! What a lesson never to turn, when in the pursuit of a great end, either to the right or to the left, to allow no lighter thoughts, no ideas of vain glory, to move a man off the direct path by following which with single- ness of purpose he can alone hope to reach the desired goal ! To the views of Dupleix, the author of the plan, al- though not responsible for any part of its execution, the blow was fatal. Nor had it, unfortunately for him, come entirely unaccompanied by other disasters : Murtiza Ali had a little before been defeated before Trinomali, and Muhammad Kumal, another French partisan, before the pagoda of Tirupati. But this was the finishing stroke ; this it was that convinced Dupleix of the necessity of at least entering into negotiations with the English Gover- scheme was well laid, and had not had run during the war." Colonel French petulance made them too Wilkes: "If the orders prohibiting soon discover themselves, they, per- firing had been obeyed, the place haps, might have had time to exe- must in a few minutes have been in cute their designs." Mr. Orme writes possession of the French." that the assault "exposed the city of
 * Major Lawrence writes: u The Trichinapalli to the greatest risk it